The old man smiled miserably: "Boy, you finally believe what I said?" ”

Tang Shan shook his head: "It's still unbelievable. Your story simply cannot be confirmed. After Wen Tianxiang became righteous back then, the whole world was sad, and it was inevitable that there were some far-fetched stories among the people, which were planted on his head in order to deify him. ”

The old man seemed to take a deep breath in order to completely convince Tang Shan, and was ready to make a tirade:

"There are two historical facts that can be used as evidence for this story."

Tang Shan's curiosity was raised: "Which two?" ”

Old man: "The first historical fact, the inkstone used by Wen Tianxiang to write the chess score, was obtained by a famous person in the Ming Dynasty, and this person is Yuan Mei." Of course you know this person. It is said that on the back of the inkstone, a few lines of inscriptions are engraved, which briefly describes the creation process of "Jade Silk Golden Tripod". ”

The old man gasped, and Tang Shan chased after him: "What about the other one?" ”

The old man took a breath and paused: "In 1943, someone found a bad page in a used bookstall in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, with "The Golden Tripod of Prime Minister Wen Cheng's Jade Silk", which was published in the "Xiangqi" magazine in 1956 and published in the world. ”

After hearing this, Tang Shan was slightly disappointed and sighed: "These two things, at most, can only prove the real existence of "Jade Silk Golden Ding", as for whether there is a secret in the meantime, it is still impossible to verify. In addition, the 'Jinding Palace' you are talking about is even more ethereal, and I have never even heard of it. ”

The old man smiled and continued: "Although the world has never heard of 'Jinding Palace', let alone seen it, its authenticity is also traceable in Wen Tianxiang's life. ”

Tang Shan's curiosity rose again, and he immediately asked, "Is there a trace to follow?" What kind of traces? ”

Old man: "In historical records, Wen Tianxiang, as a criminal officer in Jiangxi in 1265, was punished by Taichen for the crime of 'dereliction of duty' and dismissed from his home because of the case of rehabilitating Chen silversmith. From then on, he began to build a villa on the mountain, and rode to and from the mountain almost every day. After that, he went in and out of the officialdom several times, and the villa was built intermittently, but until his death in 1283, the villa was never built. Even later there were no ruins to be found. Do you think this thing is a bit strange? ”

Tang Shan nodded: "It's really strange. Not to mention an ordinary villa, even if it is a royal palace, it should be completed in a year or two, or three or five years at most. From 1265 to 1283, for nearly twenty years, the villa was built so that the ruins could not be found, which makes no sense. ”

Old man: "But he goes to and from the mountains every day." Since he personally supervised the work, how could it be so inefficient? It's been built for decades and it's not what it looks like? In fact, if Wen Tianxiang wants to build a villa, he only needs to draw a drawing and tell the workers to start construction. So, what did he do in the mountains every day? ”

Tang Shan: "I heard that. Do you mean that he claims to build villas for himself, but in fact, he is not building ordinary houses at all, but secretly building the so-called underground 'Jinding Palace'? ”

The old man smiled: "Do you think there is any other explanation?" ”

Tang Shan: "Logically makes sense. But after all, no one has seen it, and whether it really exists is still a mystery. ”

The old man sighed: "Fool, if anyone has seen it, it will not be a secret story, but a historical fact known to everyone. The life history of Wen Tianxiang is probably not what it is now. ”

Tang Shan was silent. By now, he believed this story eighty percent. But he felt that even if the story was completely true, it had nothing to do with him. If the old man had brought him here just to tell him such a bizarre story, then the purpose had basically been achieved; If there are other requirements, I'm afraid it is not within his Tang Shan's ability.

Tang Shan: "Assuming that the Jinding Palace really exists, what is hidden in it?" Monetary wealth? Military secrets? Or is it something that the average person can't imagine? ”

The old man shook his head: "I don't know either. This part is not part of our family story. ”

Tang Shan was not too disappointed, changed the topic and continued to ask: "Have you told this story to anyone else before?" ”

The old man was categorical: "Absolutely not." ”

Tang Shan: "That's weird. Why has it been safe for more than 700 years, and in the past two days, several waves of people have suddenly come to look for the endgame? And it's easy to find you? ”

The old man looked confused: "To be honest, I haven't figured this out either. I came to you because I knew from the hospital that I had an incurable disease, and I had to pass on this story in my heart; In addition, the endgame of 'Jade Silk Golden Ding', I pondered for 30 years to get through, and it was drowned, but it was a pity that I worked hard, and I also hope to find someone to pass it on. But I never thought that at the same time that I found you, others also found me. ”

Tang Shan didn't believe it: "You are not the only one in your family who knows this story, and it is difficult to guarantee that others will not spread the story." ”

The old man smiled: "It's a very fantasy story like this, and no one believes it." Just like you. But when you mention that, I think of a past from my father. It's related to this story. ”

Tang Shan came to the spirit again: "What is the past?" ”

Old man: "In the fifties of the last century, shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Wen Tianxiang's hometown was revising local chronicles, and in order to show his contribution to the new government, my father wrote down the oral story in the family in detail and sent it to the editorial office of that local chronicle. It's just that in order to save unnecessary trouble, he concealed his family's relationship with this story, not to mention that there are still two chess games hidden in the family. As a result, the director of the editorial department thought it was nonsense, made up nonsense and deceived the people's government, and did not even return the manuscript, but threw it directly into the trash. ”

Tang Shan: "This is definitely the problem. The story was too illusory to be verified at the time, and it was not included in the local annals, but someone remembered it and believed it, and then secretly searched the chess games and characters related to the story. After decades, I finally found you. ”

Old man: "It's hard to imagine that someone would go through more than half a century of open and secret visits for the sake of a story. ”

Tang Shan: "Nothing unimaginable. Isn't that true of you? Because of a story, I spent 30 years on the chess game, and I was homeless and sleeping on the streets. ”

The old man sighed, "You're right. In fact, in our whole family, we have only used this story as an after-dinner conversation, and only I am convinced of the content and have checked a lot of information to try to confirm it. But I'm still different from others. For others, a story is just a story that can only be laughed at after listening to it, but I inherited two pieces of chess related to the story from my family, and it is more than just a story. ”

Tang Shan: "In your story, Wen Tianxiang's family member dismantled the "Jade Silk Golden Ding" into fragments and scattered it among the people, while he only kept the first and last two pages. That is, there are still thirty-eight pages circulating. Then, perhaps someone by chance gets a page or a few of them, and happens to see the story that your father wrote, and is as convinced as you are, and as unyielding as you are. In this way, it is not surprising that this person has been investigating and secretly visiting for half a century. ”

The old man pondered for a long time, and sighed slowly: "If this is the case, I am afraid that this person will not give up." ”

Tang Shan: "Of course I won't give up. How have you ever given up in your own life? Spending 30 years on an endgame, your original intention is probably not just to get through this game of chess, right? You yourself said that endgame is just a key. Therefore, your goal in life is actually to find and enter the legendary 'Golden Tripod Palace'. ”

The old man laughed miserably: "It's a pity that my talent is not high, and it took thirty years just to play an endgame; And the luck is not good, when I got through the endgame, I suffered from an incurable disease. Frankly speaking, I'm not very afraid of death, I am dozens of years old, what is there to be afraid of death? It's just that a lifetime of hard work has been wasted, and I'm a little unwilling. ”

Tang Shan: "So you fell in love with me on the street, and did everything possible to lure me here, in addition to trying to make me believe your story, but also to persuade me to inherit your legacy, follow the path you pioneered, and find the ethereal 'Jinding Palace'?" ”

The old man nodded: "To say that I don't have this selfishness is false." But since the beginning, I didn't intend to ask or force you to do this, after all, this is your life, and besides, you and I meet in the water, in case this road doesn't work, I don't want you to spend too much time on an ethereal thing like me. So, in addition to telling you a story that the world doesn't know, I just want to teach you the footwork of the chess game that I have walked through. If you are interested, coupled with talent and creation, you may be able to find the legendary 'Golden Tripod Palace' and give this story a perfect ending, and the worst outcome is that the chess game I have passed can be passed down through your hands, and it will not be drowned by my death. ”

Tang Shan pondered for a while before he said: "You just said that as early as 1943, someone found "Wen Cheng Xiang Jade Silk Golden Ding" in a second-hand book stall and published it in a magazine. It's been 70 years now, much longer than it has taken you yourself, how can you be sure that no one has made it through this endgame in 70 years? Do you think too low of all the current chess players, or do you overestimate yourself? ”

The old man smiled: "I also said that the first game of 'Jade Silk Golden Ding' and the last game of 'Riding Alone' have been kept within my family. It has been passed down from generation to generation as a family heirloom and has never been disclosed to the world. ”

Tang Shan: "So what, the page that was discovered in 1943 is fake?" ”

Old man: "I have seen the page circulating in the magazine back then, although it is also the model of 'guns and horses win cars', but it is far from the real 'jade silk golden tripod' created by Wen Tianxiang. It is clearly a fabrication based on hearsay and imagination. ”

Tang Shan: "Then, the day I met you, the game you lured me to play at the bridgehead, of course, it was not the 'Jade Silk Golden Ding'." ”

The old man smiled: "Of course not. I created it myself. How can I put the 'Jade Silk Golden Ding' on the street at will? After a pause, he said in an accentuated tone, "However, what was written on the piece of paper I gave you that night was the real 'Jade Silk Golden Tripod' footwork, which is unique in the world. You didn't throw it away, did you? ”

Tang Shan was taken aback: "On the first night, you gave me a unique way of walking so rashly?" ”

The old man laughed again: "It's not rash. First of all, I have memorized the endgame footwork, and it is useless to leave it on my body; The second is that if you don't compare the original endgame diagram, there is only footwork, and no one can understand it, and it is completely meaningless to get it. ”

Tang Shan snorted: "No wonder I dozed off after watching a few steps that night, and almost threw it away." ”

After clearing his throat, Tang Shan asked again, "One last question." Suddenly there are two gangs in this town looking for the scraps of the chess game, and the target is quickly locked on you, and you don't expect it, so how did you manage to get so many people to return empty-handed? It's such a broken place, and it doesn't take two minutes to dig three feet into the ground. ”

The old man said slowly: "It's very simple, I destroyed two fragments of my ancestors many years ago. No one in the world will ever find it again. ”

Ruined? Tang Shan was stunned, didn't the whole story lose its meaning?